Reflection over the last 14 weeks

Today I was reflecting on the last 14 weeks, It has been an incredible journey so far. I have lost 45 pounds, I am able to run faster and further, I am able to swim much better. This path has been slow and steady, I have noticed that my thoughts towards exercise and training have changed. Before I would be happy to jog a quarter mile, now when I look at a workout my mind does not reel back when planning to run more than 2 or 3 miles. Today my time was 1:15 faster than my last run back to the car. Yesterday I realized that I completed 10 laps in less than half the time I took when I first started swimming, my swimming is not pretty but much better than when I started.
When I look at the paragraph above there is a lot of "me" and "I" in the sentences, the fact is that without my wife's encouragement, the support of my friend Ken (AKA the Co-worker), and my swim coach I would not be where I am today.
The most important motivation for me is my brother Charles. For years I would say I need to get in shape or I gotta lose weight, but that changed when I realized I could come along side my brother and raise money to help fight cancer.
Last week I learned that a childhood friend died from Leukemia. I really want to make a difference and with the support of my friends and family it will be possible.

Zone Snacks that I like

As I shared a few weeks ago I switched over to the Zone for my eating plan. I wanted to share a couple of food items that I like.
For a one block snack I use one corn tortilla, one stick of cheese and 5 olives. I microvave the corn tortilla for 20 seconds, Place the cheese on the tortilla and roll the tortilla, put it back in the microwave for another 20 seconds, yummy. for a two block snack I double the tortilla and cheese and then top the tortillas with a 100 calorie pack of guacamole, double yum.

Great swimming workout this evening and I am looking forward to my run in the morning. Kind of a somber day today in my mind. My father passed away suddenly 20 years ago, the sudden passing was difficult to deal with and even today it affects me deeply.

Happy Birthday to my sister Elizabeth.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® - Official Website#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® - Official Website#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/#/waystohelp/whygive/

Fundraising effort

I wanted to let you know why I added an Amazon Store to my blog. I have a goal of raising $5,600 to support the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. So far I have raised $325. I saw where I can receive about 15% of the sale if I set up an Amazon store on my blog. Since my fundraising efforts have been slow to grow, I thought that I could take advantage of the Amazon offer and raise money for LLS at the same time. Please consider shopping through the Amazon link on my site, if this works I may consider adding other affiliates. If you want to make a 100% tax deductible donation go to my fundraising site. Otherwise what ever money I make through the Amazon site I will donate to the LLS.
I recently learned that a friend of the family recently passed away from leukemia so this is an important cause and I really need your help to raise money to fight leukemia and lymphoma.

Thank you,
Jack McGowan

Training progress

This week was challenging to my training efforts, Swimming on Monday did not go well; my shoulder was bothering me. About 25 years ago I separated my shoulder playing rugby, it has been an issue for me ever since. I need to improve my swimming technique or this is just going to get worse. Thanksgiving was OK I had dinner with one of my boys and his friend at the Chow Hall at Subase Bangor, no leftovers to deal with.

I ordered a bicycle roller trainer to start my cycling training. Here in the great northwest conditions can be unfavorable to riding outside, my intention is to get into good cycling form using the trainer and ride on the road when weather permits.

Swimming Week 12

I had an amazing swim workout tonight. My Coach is fantastic and I am very grateful that I found such a wonderful person to help me out.
I was basically in survival mode when swimming and it was exhausting. Tonight she showed me how to keep my body closer to the surface of the water which really cut my effort and made my swimming more efficient.

A couple of week ago I switched my food plan to the Zone plan, it is making a difference in how I feel. It has been an interesting transition and I have been successful in finding combinations that I like. You can learn more about the Zone by checking out this information from the Crossfit Journal http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/cfjissue21_May04.pdf  or go to http://www.zonediet.com/

I will post some food combinations that I enjoy.

End of Week 11

I recorded a video after my run this afternoon, there seems to be a problem with the sound for the first 20 seconds. Essentially I was saying that I just finished running 3.75 miles and that tomorrow is the Kick-off for Team in Training.

I have not been writing very much due to my school workload.

Week 10, Mountain running

Today I went trail running on Green Mountain. It was a good run, I did better than I did last Saturday. The picture shows the elevation gain during the last half mile, the elevation changes from about 700 to 1040.
I have been realizing that during the last 10 weeks I have made a lot of progress in my physical conditioning.